


Laying the Groundwork

by chyeahnursey



Series: Ford & the SMH [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Building Friendships, Fluff, Gen, I'm a sucker for it, Just more found family stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 23:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11497227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chyeahnursey/pseuds/chyeahnursey
Summary: Shitty leads will break your shitty sets and ruin your day, but hey, it's not all bad, right?~~More Ford/Team bonding!





	Laying the Groundwork

**Author's Note:**

> In honour of my birthday, a gift from me to you! More Ford fluffy content. Hope you like it :)

_r u available later?_ Ford types out, her eyes narrowed. _my shitty lead just broke half the set and ofc the guy who built it is gone for the wknd_

The message comes back almost instantly. _wanna do it tomorrow morning? I can finish my piece now and then you don’t have to rush_

 _that would be perf. thx Lardo._ Ford sticks her phone back in her pocket and surveys the stage. The lead actor was supposed to slam the door, but he slammed it so hard it had jammed, and then he yanked on it to try and enter again and managed to rip a hinge out. Not only that, but the door had swung open so violently after the hinge broke that it had banged a dent into the adjacent wall. She resigned herself to spending the night in the theatre and headed to the back to find some tools, a can of paint, and if she was lucky, the snacks she’d stashed back there once upon a rehearsal. 

Less than fifteen minutes later, she was walking back into the theatre with a few tools, paint, and some questionable but probably still good chocolate, when she saw someone up on the set.

“Hey! You aren’t supposed to be in here!” Ford yelled, her voice echoing in the empty theatre.

“Holy _shit_ -” the other person cursed and something fell to the floor. They turned around and Ford realized it wasn’t some idiot fooling around, it was Dex. 

“What are you doing here?”

“I, uh,” he held up his toolbox, “I’m here to help with the set? Uh, if you want, I mean.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Lardo mentioned it in the group chat.” He shifted awkwardly. “Sorry I startled you.” 

“No, it’s fine, I just thought it was one of the freshman trying to mess with the set,” Ford said as she dumped her haul on the floor. “Our set designer is away for the weekend and took most of his tools, so I’m definitely not going to say no to any help. Don’t you have a big assignment due Monday though?” 

Dex shrugged. “C and I finished most of it this afternoon, it’s fine.”

“Okay,” Ford nodded. “Here, let me show you the idiot did.”

~~~

It turned out Dex had everything they needed in his toolbox, including some small pieces of drywall they could use to reinforce the area where the hinge was. Dex left Ford to work on the hinge while he checked out the rest of the set. He set about reinforcing some of the weak spots in the structure to make sure there wouldn’t be any more ‘accidents’ caused by enthusiastic actors. They worked in companionable silence for nearly two hours before Ford started yawning so much that Dex took the hammer away from her. 

“Hey, I’m not-” Ford was cut off by a yawn. “I’m not done yet!”

“Yep, you are.” Dex started packing his tools up. 

“Who died and made you boss?”

Dex snorted. “Do you think Lardo would be happy with me if I let you injure yourself because you’re tired? I don’t want to get stuck with frogs for roommates for the next two years.”

“You do realize that I’ll be your manager for the next two years?” Ford resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. 

“Mm hmm. Lardo’s still scarier though.”

“I’ll tell her you said that.”

“You know, I think she’d be happy about that.” He surveyed the set. “Really though, you’ve done everything you can except paint that dent, and that can definitely wait until tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Ford sighed. 

“Come on, all this hard work calls for pie. Bitty was baking when I left, he said he’d save us some.”

Ford hesitated, thinking about the long walk home from the Haus, before her stomach growled and made her choice for her. “Okay, let’s go.” 

Dex grabbed his toolbox and Ford scooped up her bag from the seat she’d abandoned it on. They made their way out of the theatre, and Ford found herself surprised by how dark it had gotten. They walked back to the Haus in companionable silence, giving Ford time to run down her mental list of what she still had to get done the next day. A long list, sure, but getting the set done today with Dex had definitely reduced her stress levels. 

Bitty greeted them as soon as they walked in the door. “I’ve been saving you some pie and cookies, and I wouldn’t wait too long to eat them, the others have practically been drooling over them.”

“Practically? Bro, give us some credit, there’s been real drool,” Holster said, winking at Ford from the kitchen doorway. Dex practically kicked off his shoes and bolted for the food, while Ford took the extra minute to actually unlace her shoes and hang up her jacket. When she went into the kitchen, she realized Bitty hadn’t really been joking - all of the current Haus members were there, plus Nursey, Tango and Whiskey, and although they were all eyeing the plate Bitty had set out for her with interest. She sat down, Dex on one side and Bitty on the other, and took a bite of pie.

“Is this blueberry and peach?” Ford asked.

Bitty nodded and smiled. 

“Oh my gosh, this is definitely my new favourite pie,” Ford said as she loaded more of it onto her fork.

“That’s what I was saying!” Tango exclaimed. 

Ford looked him right in the eye as she ate her next bite, exaggeratedly licking her lips when she was done. “Too bad Bitty saved the rest for me and Dex, huh?” 

Tango’s face fell and Ransom and Holster howled with laughter. Ford fought to keep a straight face and kept staring at Tango as she finished the pie, his expression becoming more and more distraught. She saw Nursey take a photo of him, and just knew it would be the next meme in the group chat. Dex was still shovelling the pie into his mouth, and Bitty kept picking up his mug of tea, more to hide his smirk than to actually drink it. Lardo was still hunched over her sketchbook, but she caught Ford’s eye and winked at her. The conversation slowly returned to normal, Ransom and Holster planning their next (and probably last, unfortunately) kegster, the frogs chirping each other about something that had happened at practice, Tango asking Bitty all sorts of questions about baking and Whiskey quietly listening in. 

Ford relaxed back into her chair, letting the conversation flow around her. She should probably be heading back to her dorm soon, unless she wanted to sleep on the green couch again - it might have been comfy but the unknown stains kind of freaked her out. Not that it was much better than the green room couch she’d been known to nap on, but the theatre was her territory and no one was throwing kegsters there, so it seemed, at least, a little better. She managed another five minutes without a yawn, but as soon as she did yawn she realized how tired she really was. 

“Tired?” Lardo asked her.

“Yeah,” Ford nodded. “Rehearsal was exhausting, and then dealing with the set on top of that - I’m wiped. Thanks again for the help,” she added, directing the last sentence towards Dex. 

“No big,” he shrugged. “You had most of the stuff you needed anyways, you would have been fine.” 

“I’d still be there, probably sleeping on their gross couch for the night,” she said. She yawned again.

“Wanna crash here for the night?” Lardo offered. “It’ll save you a trip in the morning, since we still have to go over the roadie info.”

“Um,” Ford hesitated for half a second, debating between the coziness of her own bed and the long walk back, “Sure, that would be great. Thanks Lardo.” 

“Come on, I was about to head up anyways,” Lardo picked up her sketchbook and pencils. “See you guys later.”

A chorus of ‘ _goodnight_ ’s followed them up the stairs. Lardo loaned her a pair of pajamas and Ford pretty much tumbled into the bed, half asleep before her head hit the pillow. She could hear Lardo moving around the room, and she could hear voices from the room next door - it sounded like Nursey and Dex were still hanging out with Chowder. Lardo flipped off the overhead light and turned on the light beside the bed, sitting down with a book and wiggling back into the nest of pillows she had made herself. Ford laid there on the verge of sleep, listening to Lardo turn the pages, when there was a light tap on the door. Chowder stuck his head in the room to say goodnight to them again, Ford managing to get out a sleep “Night, C” before he left. Lardo laughed at her and told her to go to sleep, “for real this time”. Ford grumbled but nodded, drifting off to the sounds of the Haus around her.

**Author's Note:**

> Just picture Lardo having Shitty's old bed for this, it makes more sense than the lofted one I think! Anyway, that's that.


End file.
